North Cyprus Property Taxes and Fees: 2026 Rates and Worked Example

North Cyprus Property Taxes and Fees: 2026 Rates and Worked Example

North Cyprus property taxes on a purchase consist mainly of a Land Registry fee of 4% of value on a foreign buyer’s first property, stamp duty of 0.5% on the sale agreement and, on a new home sold by a developer, VAT at the 5% rate that the TRNC regulation sets for housing up to 300 m2. Ownership adds an annual immovable property tax charged per square metre, letting adds a 10% withholding on gross rent, and selling adds a withholding collected at the Land Registry on a deemed gain. Every figure in this guide is stated as of 24 October 2026, and several can change: the Land Registry fee schedule is valid only until 5 January 2027, and the limits on how much a foreigner may buy rest on Decree-Law 89/2026, a Council of Ministers decree whose 90-day validity ends about 5 November 2026 unless Parliament enacts it.

This guide follows the money in the order a buyer meets it. It sets out the legal basis and the dates that matter, then each charge in turn (Land Registry fees, stamp duty, VAT), builds a worked example on a purchase of GBP 150,000 with the source of every rate, applies the same arithmetic to the sterling prices shown on our own listing pages, and separates the official charges from the costs that only agency pages quote. It then covers annual property tax, rental income, the tax on selling, and transfers that are not sales. Fees are collected in Turkish lira, while most North Cyprus listings are priced in sterling, so the sterling figures below are arithmetic on the stated price, not a quotation.

North Cyprus Property Taxes at a Glance

The table below lists every charge covered in this guide, who it falls on, the rate in the 2026 texts, and where the rate comes from. A rate is shown only where an official TRNC text states it. Charges that official texts do not price, such as legal and notary fees, are handled separately further down.

Legal Basis for North Cyprus Property Taxes: Decree-Law 89/2026 and the Dates That Matter

Two separate instruments shape the cost of buying in 2026, and they should not be confused. The first is the acquisition regime for foreigners. Law 52/2008 requires a foreign buyer to obtain a purchase permit from the Council of Ministers, and the numerical limits are currently set by Decree-Law 89/2026, published in Resmi Gazete No. 147 on 7 August 2026. It re-issues Decree-Law 63/2026 of 11 May 2026 and applies only while it remains in force. Its general rationale says the state was losing tax and fee income because foreign buyers and sellers could not meet the deadlines in the 2024 amendment, so several of its rules are about when and how taxes and fees must be paid. According to the press report in Bugün Kıbrıs, the decree was re-issued because Parliament was in recess and could not enact the amendments its committee had begun to discuss.

A decree of this kind is not an act of Parliament. Its 90-day validity runs from 7 August 2026 and therefore ends about 5 November 2026 unless Parliament enacts it, and the consolidated text of Law 52/2008 on the legislation portal still shows the stricter 2024 wording. The decree affects North Cyprus property taxes indirectly: it decides how many apartments a foreigner may buy, which in turn decides which rung of the Land Registry fee scale applies, and it sets the deadlines for paying. The fee scale itself comes from a different instrument, a Council of Ministers regulation published in Resmi Gazete No. 197 on 7 October 2026, which has its own end date. Our guide on whether foreigners can buy property in North Cyprus covers eligibility and the limits in detail.

The Council of Ministers continues to grant permits under Law 52/2008. A news item in Haber Kıbrıs on 6 October 2026 reports that at its meeting of 5 October 2026 the Council approved purchase permits for 297 foreign nationals, each valid only if the property is free of encumbrances. The permit is the event from which the payment clocks described below start to run.

Land Registry Fees on a North Cyprus Purchase: The 4%, 5.5% and 6% Scale

The largest tax-like cost of a purchase is the Land Registry (Tapu) fee. The schedule in Resmi Gazete No. 197 of 7 October 2026, Council of Ministers decision Ü(K-I)2674-2026, replaces the earlier table for transfers made by sale. It states that the charges are collected in Turkish lira and that the regulation stays in force until and including 5 January 2027. For a sale to a foreigner the total depends on how many properties the buyer is acquiring: 4% for the first, 5.5% for the second and 6% for the third. Each total is built from three columns: a transfer element, a share for the Immovable Property Commission (the TMK column) and a share for the Housing Acquisition Unit.

Three points in the schedule are easy to miss. First, the fee is not a flat charge on the contract price: the schedule’s closing note says registration fees are calculated on the market value (rayiç kıymet) in every transaction except compulsory sales, where the sale price is used. The acquirer declares that value on the day, fees are first collected on the declared figure, the Land Registry Director assesses the value within three months, and the final fee is computed on the finalised value, with a right to object under the Immovable Property (Tenure, Registration and Valuation) Law. The worked example below assumes the declared value equals the contract price; the Land Registry’s assessment may differ. Second, the heading “Who pays” is answered by the schedule itself: the registration charge is paid by the person who has the title registered in their name, which is the buyer. Law 52/2008 art. 13(3) adds that all taxes, duties, fees, withholding and VAT on a transfer are paid by buyer and seller according to the legislation in force. The developer FAQ at isatis.co describes the 4% as shared 2% by each side; that split does not appear in the schedule text.

Third, the number of properties counts. A foreign buyer who already holds one apartment pays the 5.5% rung on a second. Under Decree-Law 89/2026 a foreign buyer may hold up to three apartments (the consolidated Law text still shows one), so the second and third rungs are reachable in practice only while the decree is in force or has been enacted. The Haber Kıbrıs report on the new schedule, published on 7 October 2026, reports tiered rates for foreign buyers by number of properties owned and says the rate for nationals of recognising states on the first two properties was cut from 6% to 4%.

When the fees fall due

Payment deadlines are written into Law 52/2008 and into the decree, and they differ between the two texts. Under the decree, the stamped sale agreement must be registered at the district Land Registry within one month, with the taxes and fees due on the sale paid, and the permit applied for in the same period; otherwise the contract is void. The table gives the later deadlines in both texts so a reader can see which text a quotation relies on.

Two consequences of non-payment are stated in the decree. Until all taxes and fees are paid, local authorities may not give a permanent or temporary water connection and the electricity authority may not give a temporary or permanent electricity connection, although connections for building sites are outside that rule. And where a permit lapses because fees were not paid, a new application costs double fees and a third application for the same property is not allowed. The decree also contains a one-off charge for contracts made before the 2024 amendment that exceeded a buyer’s acquisition right: a notification fee of 1% of the stated sale price when made inside the six-month window. Ownership of such a unit stays with the seller and the buyer receives a ten-year use certificate, which gives rights of use but not title. Our step-by-step guide to how to buy property in North Cyprus places these deadlines in the order of a real purchase.

Stamp Duty on the Sale Agreement: 0.5% of the Stated Sum

Stamp duty is the second charge on every purchase. Under the Stamp Duty Law 19/1963 (the consolidated text saved on the Tax Department site in April 2026, including amendment 2/2026), an agreement that states a sum of money is charged at five per thousand (“binde beş”, which is 0.5%) on the first TL 89,000,000 of the sum and at one per thousand (“binde bir”, 0.1%) above that. For ordinary homes the first band applies, so the duty is 0.5% of the sum in the contract. The law says that in the case of a sale agreement the duty is paid by the buyer, and a lease by the tenant, unless the parties agree otherwise.

Because duty is computed in lira, a sterling contract is converted. The law provides that where the taxable sum is expressed in a currency other than the lira, the duty is calculated at the official effective selling rate on the day the instrument is stamped at the Tax Department. A contract signed outside the TRNC is treated as made on the day it is first received inside the Republic and may be stamped within thirty days of receipt on payment of the duty. The developer FAQ cited above says the stamp is paid within 21 days of both parties signing the contract.

Under the decree, stamping is the first step of the foreign purchase sequence: the stamped agreement is what must be registered at the district Land Registry within one month. A buyer who delays stamping therefore delays the registration clock. The duty is small relative to the Land Registry fee, as the example below shows: 0.5% of GBP 150,000 is GBP 750.

VAT on North Cyprus Property: Which Sales Carry 5% and 10%

The VAT rates regulation, updated on 7 October 2026 under the Value Added Tax Law, sorts supplies into five schedules. Property appears in three of them, and the line that matters for homes is the one that puts “all immovable property and housing with closed area up to 300 square metres, furnished or not” in the 5% schedule while housing with 300 square metres or more of closed area sits in the 10% schedule.

The regulation fixes rates; it does not say which individual sales are inside the VAT system. For that, the sources read for this guide are agency and developer pages. Tekce, on a page updated on 19 October 2026, states 5% VAT on new properties only and says resale properties are exempt. Investra, in an article dated 5 April 2026, gives 5% on new builds and says resale is generally exempt. The developer FAQ at isatis.co says 5% is paid by the buyer and that no VAT applies to individual sales where the seller is not making a profit. These statements agree with one another, but none cites a provision of the VAT Law, and the regulation itself is silent on resales. A quoted price should therefore state whether VAT is included or added.

The difference matters when the sums are laid out. On a quoted new-build price of GBP 150,000, 5% added on top is GBP 7,500; if the quoted price already contains VAT, the VAT inside it is GBP 150,000 x 5 / 105 = GBP 7,142.86. In the second case the VAT is already inside the GBP 150,000 and adds nothing to the buyer’s bill, which is why a contract that says only “price” leaves the budget open. For buyers who plan to build a house on a plot, the regulation’s 10% entry for construction contracting and subcontracting services is the line to read. Our guide on buying off-plan in North Cyprus covers how payment schedules and contract wording interact with VAT.

Worked Example: North Cyprus Property Taxes on a GBP 150,000 Purchase

The example assumes a foreign buyer acquiring a first property, an apartment under 300 m2, for a stated price of GBP 150,000 as of 24 October 2026. It assumes the market value declared to the Land Registry equals the price. Two variants are shown: a new home from a developer where VAT is added to the quoted price, and a resale where, according to the agency pages above, VAT does not apply. Every step shows its arithmetic and its source.

Further items depend on how the purchase is paid for and are shown separately because they are not incurred in every case. The permit service fee is half the gross monthly minimum wage: TL 70,893 / 2 = TL 35,446.50 at the wage in force from 1 July 2026. A loan backed by a mortgage costs 1% of the mortgage debt at registration, so a GBP 75,000 loan would carry GBP 750 (the loan size is an illustration, not a statement about what banks lend). Converting GBP 150,000 into lira through a TRNC financial institution would carry the Financial Transactions Tax at 0.1% of the foreign-currency sale amount, which is GBP 150, collected from the customer by the institution. These are the charges at stated rates; they are not a forecast of any particular purchase.

The same buyer’s second and third properties show how the scale works. At a stated GBP 150,000, the Land Registry total is 5.5% = GBP 8,250 on a second property and 6% = GBP 9,000 on a third, against GBP 6,000 on the first. A national of a state that recognises the TRNC would pay 4% = GBP 6,000 on each of the first two. The worked arithmetic also shows why quotations that omit the base value or the buyer category are hard to compare.

What Our Listings Show: Fees at Published Sterling Prices

Many North Cyprus listings show “On request” rather than a price, and where a figure is shown it can be a developer’s minimum, a resale asking price or a template value. The table applies the first-property foreign rates (4% Land Registry fee, 0.5% stamp duty) to the sterling figures that appear on our listing pages as of 24 October 2026, and says what each figure is. Where VAT could apply it is shown separately. The base is assumed to equal the figure shown.

For Aloha Homes, which the developer lists as an ongoing project with a 35% down payment and delivery given as December 2026, the page states 5% as the rate for housing up to 300 m2 but not whether the “from” price includes it. If VAT were added to GBP 154,950 it would be GBP 7,747.50, bringing the figures above to GBP 14,720.25; if the price already contains it, the total stays GBP 6,972.75. The resale rows are asking prices from advertisers, so the fee base is the value the Land Registry assesses at transfer, not the advertised figure. Several of our other pages, among them Terra Life in Iskele and Pearl Island in Esentepe, show “On request” or conflicting template prices, so no fee can be computed for them until a unit price is written down. Our guide to North Cyprus property prices explains how to read those labels.

Legal, Notary and Connection Costs: Where No Official Tariff Exists

The official texts read for this guide do not give a tariff for legal fees, notary fees or the cost of connecting water and electricity to a new home. These costs are real, and they are where agency pages differ most. The table lists what three agency or developer pages state and attributes each figure; none is an official rate.

Reading across the columns shows the problem. The Land Registry line differs by a factor of more than two between sources, and only the Resmi Gazete schedule can settle it: for a foreigner it states 4%, 5.5% and 6%. The legal-fee range in the Tekce page converts to GBP 1,740 to 2,900 once the 16% VAT it adds is included (1,500 x 1.16 = 1,740; 2,500 x 1.16 = 2,900). Adding Tekce’s electricity distribution range (GBP 1,500 to 5,000) and its two connection figures (GBP 220 + GBP 200 = GBP 420) gives GBP 3,660 to 8,320 of agency-quoted costs. Applied to the worked example, that moves the total on a GBP 150,000 new build from GBP 14,250 to a range of GBP 17,910 to 22,570 (11.9% to 15.0% of the price) and on a resale from GBP 6,750 to GBP 10,410 to 15,070 (6.9% to 10.0%). Because these additions come from one agency page and are not official tariffs, they are shown as a range for orientation only.

The UK government guidance on buying property in Cyprus advises buyers to take independent legal advice and notes that the north has separate district bar associations. Our guide on checking a North Cyprus title deed sets out what a search at the Land Registry shows.

Permit Fee, Fixed Land Registry Charges and the Financial Transactions Tax

Besides percentage charges, several fixed amounts apply. The purchase permit is requested through the Interior Ministry’s online system, and Law 52/2008 art. 8(4) fixes the service fee at half of the gross monthly minimum wage in force at the time. With the wage of TL 70,893 from 1 July 2026 (Tax Department notice), the fee is TL 35,446.50. Because the figure follows the wage, it changes whenever the wage changes. The same wage is the base for fines: selling to a foreigner beyond the acquisition limits is an offence punishable by a fine of up to 500 times the gross monthly minimum wage, which is TL 35,446,500 at the July 2026 wage.

The Land Registry announced on 15 July 2025 that, during the roll-out of its new automated system, transactions including research documents and transfers are handled only at the district office where the property is registered. The schedule’s TL 149 charge for processing at another district office is the fee side of that rule. The Land Registry describes the research document (araştırma belgesi) as an information-only ownership query.

The Financial Transactions Tax, Law 62/2026, took effect on 1 October 2026 and replaced the bank and insurance transactions tax. The institutions are the taxpayers, but the law says they separately demand and collect the tax from their customers at the time of the transaction. The rates are 0.1% of the foreign-currency sale amount on exchange transactions, 5% of the premium on insurance, 1% on interbank deposit transactions and 3% on other receipts; the Council of Ministers may lower them. For a buyer, two effects follow: converting sterling to lira through a TRNC bank or exchange office carries 0.1% (GBP 1 for each GBP 1,000 converted), and a home insurance premium of GBP 100 would carry GBP 5.

Annual North Cyprus Property Taxes: Immovable Property Tax and Insurance

Ownership brings the annual immovable property tax (taşınmaz mal vergisi). The latest schedule on the Tax Department site is the 2025 Property Tax Amounts and Rates Regulation, effective from 1 January 2025. For housing of normal construction (reinforced-concrete frame or load-bearing masonry), the base amount is TL 6.60 per m2 up to 120 m2 and TL 7.15 per m2 above 120 m2. Simple construction (brick or other basic materials) is TL 3.20 per m2. A swimming pool is TL 35.60 per m2. The base amount is for the fifth category; a home in a higher category carries a surcharge of 10% (fourth), 25% (third), 40% (second) or 60% (first category), and a building constructed in 2000 or earlier receives a 15% reduction.

Plots have their own entries: building plots (arsa) carry a base of TL 0.72 per 10 square feet, with surcharges of 10% to 60% by category, and unparcelled land TL 107 per donum. The plot row converts the 1,338 m2 limit that Decree-Law 89/2026 sets for land with a building permit (1 m2 = 10.7639 square feet, so 1,338 m2 is about 14,402 square feet). The 2025 amounts are the latest schedule on the Tax Department site, and the actual bill depends on the category assigned to the property. Agency pages disagree with each other here: Tekce gives GBP 0.2 per m2 in one place and about GBP 0.064 in another, and Investra says there is no annual state-level immovable property tax. The Regulation’s amounts, in lira, are the reference.

The other recurring cost that carries a tax is insurance. Under Law 62/2026 the 5% rate applies to the premium, collected by the insurer from the customer. Service charges to an owners’ association are a contractual cost, not a tax, and the Aloha Homes FAQ on our listing page says its fees depend on unit type and appear in the purchase agreement.

North Cyprus Property Taxes on Rental Income: Withholding, VAT and Stamp Duty on Leases

Letting a property in the TRNC attracts three charges. Under Income Tax Law art. 31(6), 10% of the gross rent, including advance rent and whether the home is let furnished or unfurnished, is paid to the Tax Department by the owner or the owner’s representative. For individuals, and for companies whose only income is rent, that payment is the final tax: it is not combined with other income, and the cost of earning the rent is not deducted. Where the owner lives abroad and has no permanent representative in the TRNC, the tenant who pays the rent must calculate and pay the tax. Rent totalling less than one monthly minimum wage in a month is exempt if the owner has no other income and has obtained the Tax Department’s approval for the period. Filing obligations for rental income remain even after the withholding.

The Stamp Duty Law treats a lease for a fixed term as an agreement for the total rent payable, so a 12-month lease at GBP 800 a month is charged on GBP 9,600, and the law places the duty on the tenant unless the parties agree otherwise. A holiday let of up to 60 days falls under the Holiday Houses Law, which requires registration with the Tourism Planning Department of the Ministry of Tourism before letting. Our guide to renting out property in North Cyprus goes through licences, management and tenant types in full, and the figures above are the tax layer only.

Taxes on Selling and on Transfers That Are Not Sales

A seller who is not a property dealer is taxed under the Income Tax Law on a deemed gain, and the tax is withheld by the Land Registry at the moment of transfer. The rules read in the law’s consolidated text of 25 May 2026 work in three steps. The net gain is deemed to be 20% of whichever is higher: the market value the Land Registry sets on the day of transfer or the sale price. A 30% exemption is deducted from that gain (the Council of Ministers may raise the exemption share each January, up to 60%, and the consolidated text shows 30%). The Land Registry then withholds 20% of what remains, and that withholding is the final tax, not combined with the seller’s other income.

The 2.8% is derived from the law’s own formula, and it matches the developer FAQ’s statement that 2.8% is withheld in current practice. Four conditions limit the result. The one-off exemption that lets a person sell one house with up to one donum of land and one plot, or a workplace up to 300 m2, without a gain being assessed is not available to foreigners. A person who sells more than three properties in a calendar year, or more than five in three calendar years, or who does so as a business, is treated as a property trader and taxed on a different basis; sales below 40 times the monthly minimum wage, and inherited or gifted property, do not count towards that test, and the 30% exemption does not apply to traders. And the buyer, not the seller, pays the Land Registry fee on the transfer, as shown above.

Gifts, exchanges and company transfers

The same Land Registry schedule fixes rates for registrations that are not sales. The table below repeats them as written.

The schedule does not list a separate inheritance rate, and this guide does not state one. Where a title category matters to a transfer, for instance property registered with a Final Disposition Certificate under the Housing, Land Distribution and Equivalent Property Law, the schedule keeps the same percentage and adds a separate line for Value Document points. Our guide on the North Cyprus title deed categories explains what those labels describe.

Why Agency Figures for North Cyprus Property Taxes Differ From the Gazette

Search results for North Cyprus property taxes show transfer fees of 3%, 6%, 9% and 12% side by side. Part of the explanation is timing. Nexus Cyprus, on a page posted on 14 August 2024 with a note dated 21 January 2025, states that Turkish citizens paid 6% on the first property, 9% on the second and 12% on the third and later, and that foreigners paid 12% on every purchase. Those figures refer to the schedule that preceded the one of 7 October 2026. Investra’s 2026 article gives 9% of assessed value, and also mentions 12% in older sources and about 3% to 6% in a legal note, so the article itself is not consistent. The current official schedule is the Resmi Gazete table of 4%, 5.5% and 6%, valid until 5 January 2027.

The other reason is that some pages present the transfer element alone (3%) and omit the two 0.5% shares, while others quote a single combined figure. When a quotation gives only one percentage, the way to compare it with the Gazette is to ask which of the three columns it includes. For wider context on how these costs compare across the island, see our comparison of north Cyprus vs south Cyprus property, which sets the two halves side by side.

A checklist for reading a fee quotation

The charges that make up North Cyprus property taxes combine in different ways depending on who quotes them. The following questions turn the Gazette and the tax texts into a way of checking a quotation line by line, without assuming any outcome.

• Is the buyer counted as a foreigner or as a national of a recognising state, and is the property the first, second or third? That decides the rung on the Land Registry scale.
• Is the quoted base the contract price or the market value the Land Registry will assess? The schedule’s closing note uses market value, except for compulsory sales.
• Does the price include VAT, and is the home under 300 m2 of closed area? The 5% and 10% schedules split at that point.
• Is stamp duty computed on the full sum in the contract, and at what exchange rate for a sterling contract?
• Are the 75-working-day payment deadline and the one-year transfer deadline in the buyer’s calendar, and does the permit’s validity depend on the decree being in force or enacted?
• Are legal, notary, connection and electricity distribution costs itemised, and by whom is each figure sourced?
• Which instrument is quoted: Decree-Law 89/2026, the consolidated Law 52/2008, or the RG 197 schedule that ends on 5 January 2027?

Our guide on the risks of buying property in North Cyprus covers the legal and title questions that sit alongside the cost questions, and the Northern Cyprus country page lists the projects whose figures were used above. For projects in the Famagusta district, the Famagusta city page and, for Esentepe, the Esentepe city page group the relevant listings by town. A comparison with the Republic of Cyprus rules is in our guide to villas for sale in Cyprus, which sets out the southern taxes separately.

Frequently Asked Questions

How much are North Cyprus property taxes when a foreigner buys a first property?

As of 24 October 2026, the official charges on a foreign buyer’s first property are a Land Registry fee of 4% (3% transfer, 0.5% Immovable Property Commission, 0.5% Housing Acquisition Unit) and stamp duty of 0.5% of the contract sum, plus VAT of 5% where the sale is within the VAT system and the home has up to 300 m2 of closed area. On GBP 150,000 that is GBP 6,750 before VAT. Legal, notary and connection costs are not set by an official tariff.

What is the Land Registry fee on a second or third property?

The schedule in Resmi Gazete No. 197 of 7 October 2026 gives 5.5% on a foreigner’s second property and 6% on the third. Nationals of states that recognise the TRNC pay 4% on the first two, 5.5% on the third and fourth, and 6% on the fifth and sixth. The number of properties a foreigner may hold depends on Decree-Law 89/2026, which allows up to three apartments while it is in force.

Is VAT charged on North Cyprus property?

Among North Cyprus property taxes, the VAT regulation of 7 October 2026 puts housing with up to 300 m2 of closed area in the 5% schedule and housing of 300 m2 or more in the 10% schedule. It does not say which sales are inside the system. Tekce, Investra and a developer FAQ state that new homes from developers carry 5% and that resales are generally outside VAT, but none cites a provision, so a quotation should say whether VAT is included.

Who pays stamp duty, and on what amount?

Under the Stamp Duty Law the buyer pays duty on a sale agreement unless the parties agree otherwise. The rate is 0.5% of the sum stated, up to TL 89,000,000, and 0.1% above that. A sterling sum is converted at the official effective selling rate on the stamping day, so a GBP 150,000 contract carries GBP 750 of duty, paid in lira.

Do the fees change on 5 January 2027?

The Land Registry fee schedule published on 7 October 2026, which sets the largest of the North Cyprus property taxes at purchase, states that it stays in force until and including 5 January 2027. Transfers registered after that date follow whatever schedule the Council of Ministers publishes next. The VAT regulation, stamp duty rates and income tax rates are not tied to that date, but the Council of Ministers can amend regulations.

What tax does a seller pay on a gain?

A seller who is not a property dealer has a net gain deemed to be 20% of the higher of the assessed value and the sale price, less a 30% exemption, and the Land Registry withholds 20% of the remainder as final tax. On GBP 150,000 that is GBP 4,200, or 2.8% of value. The one-off exemption for a house and plot is not available to foreigners, and a person who sells more than three properties in a year is treated as a trader.

Is there an annual property tax?

Yes. The latest schedule on the Tax Department site, effective 1 January 2025, sets a base of TL 6.60 per m2 up to 120 m2 and TL 7.15 above for housing of normal construction, with surcharges of 10% to 60% by category and TL 35.60 per m2 for a swimming pool. For a 200 m2 villa the base is TL 1,364 before surcharges. These North Cyprus property taxes are paid in lira.

How is rental income taxed?

The Income Tax Law requires 10% of gross rent to be paid to the Tax Department by the owner or representative, and for individuals this is the final tax. Rent on immovable property is at 0% VAT, and a fixed-term lease carries stamp duty of 0.5% of the total rent, payable by the tenant unless agreed otherwise. If the owner lives abroad with no representative, the tenant must withhold and pay.

Why do some websites quote 9% or 12% for the title transfer fee?

Those percentages appear on pages dated before the 7 October 2026 schedule, for example a 2024 agency page that gives 12% for foreigners, or on pages that combine the fee with assessed value. The only official table read for this guide gives 4%, 5.5% and 6% by property count for foreigners, valid to 5 January 2027, so older quotations on North Cyprus property taxes should be compared with it.

Does the Decree-Law caveat change these tax rates?

Not directly. The Land Registry fee scale, stamp duty, VAT and income tax come from separate texts. The decree matters because it sets how many properties a foreigner may buy and the payment deadlines, so if it lapses without enactment, the limits revert to the stricter consolidated Law 52/2008 text and the fee rungs reachable in practice change with them.

Last checked: 24 October 2026. Sources: Resmi Gazete No. 197 (7 Oct 2026); Resmi Gazete No. 147 (7 Aug 2026); Law 52/2008, consolidated; VAT rates regulation (7 Oct 2026); Income Tax Law (25 May 2026); Stamp Duty Law 19/1963; Property Tax regulation 2025; Financial Transactions Tax Law 62/2026; Tax Department minimum wage notice; Land Registry announcement (15 Jul 2025); Haber Kıbrıs, new Land Registry fees; Haber Kıbrıs, 297 permits; Bugün Kıbrıs, decree re-issue; Isatis developer FAQ; Tekce purchase costs; Investra tax guide; Nexus Cyprus transfer fee page; UK government guidance on buying property in Cyprus; Holiday Houses Law. Fee schedule valid to 5 January 2027; Decree-Law 89/2026 validity ends about 5 November 2026 unless enacted.